Speech by the President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee on the Occasion of the ‘civil Accounts Day’

1. It gives me immense pleasure to be here today at Air Force Station Jamnagar, one of the oldest and premier air bases of the Indian Air Force, to award the ‘President’s Standard’ to 119 Helicopter Unit and Colours to 28 Equipment Depot. These distinguished Units have a glorious past and rich traditions of professional excellence. Since their inception, they have rendered illustrious service to the Nation and done us proud. Their rich heritage and stellar efforts in the pursuit of excellence have set a benchmark for others to emulate. For their selfless devotion, professionalism and courage in the face of adversity, the Nation honours them today with a deep sense of gratitude and appreciation.

2. The Indian Air Force has been fulfilling its role of protecting the Indian skies and safeguarding the sovereignty of our Nation and also provided aid to the citizens during natural calamities. The resilience and tenacity displayed by the Air Warriors is a great source of encouragement and a matter of pride for the Nation. The massive relief operations undertaken by the Indian Air Force during many natural calamities in the past is all etched in our memories. Such operations are shining examples of the fortitude and determination of its gallant air warriors. The Nation is immensely proud of the Indian Air Force and remains eternally indebted to the air warriors for their selflessness and sacrifice.

3. India is firmly committed to peace and equality for which we need an effective deterrence and a strong defence force. The nation is striving hard for all-round economic growth and social empowerment of its citizens. However, we remain equally focused on building capacity to defend our sovereignty and territorial integrity. Our Armed Forces give us confidence in the Nation’s ability to face any aggression and safe guard its interests. The Air Warriors, who stand before us today, epitomise the grit and the determination in fulfilling their responsibilities by upholding the highest standards of service ethos. I take this opportunity to also congratulate all the Air Warriors on parade for their impeccable smart turnout.

4. 119 Helicopter Unit was raised in Guwahati in Mar 1972 as‘Angels of Mercy’with Mi-8 helicopters. In the initial years of its formation, the Unit flew extensively in support of counter insurgency operations in Nagaland and ‘Op Falcon’ in Arunachal Pradesh. The Unit moved to AF Stn Sulur in Feb 1988 and was immediately drawn into the battlegrounds of Sri Lanka in ‘Op Pawan’ and subsequently the Helicopter Unit was rechristened as‘The Stallions’. The Unit took part in ‘Op Cactus’ in Nov 1988 and played a major role during the 'Atlantique Crisis' of Aug 1999 and ‘Op Black Tornado’ after the terrorist attack on Mumbai in Nov 2008. The unit now operates the newly acquired Mi-17 V5 helicopters. ‘The Stallions’ have time and again undertaken rescue and relief missions living up to the motto of "Apatsu Mitram” meaning "Friends in Distress” and continue to be the harbingers of hope and happiness to distressed people. The recent Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief Operations undertaken by the Unit in Gujarat and Nepal stand testimony to this fact. The commendable performance of the personnel of the Unit during various operations has been recognised and appreciated in the form of gallantry awards. I am sure ‘The Stallions’ will continue to excel in the times to come.

5. 28 Equipment Depot has completed 62 glorious years in service of the Nation. This is the only kind of unit in the Indian Air Force which deals with all facets of air armament stores. Established at Amla, on 24 Sep 1953, the Depot has come a long way in transforming and projecting itself as one stop solution for armament issues. The Depot played a significant role in the operations of 1965, 1971 and 1999 by providing huge quantity of explosive stores in serviceable condition to the units engaged in the operations. It would not be wrong to say that this Depot provides the lethality to the fighter and bomber squadrons of the Indian Air Force. In the years gone by, the depot has been a trend-setter in innovation and has successfully modified the life-expired live missiles into its training version. I am sure the expertise gained by the Depot in the field of armament will go a long way in meeting the operational requirements of the Indian Air Force.

6. In acknowledgement and recognition of their outstanding performance, I am pleased to award ‘Standard’ to 119 Helicopter Unit and ‘Colours’ to 28 Equipment Depot. On this occasion, I take the opportunity to compliment the personnel and families (both past and the present) of 119 Helicopter Unit and 28 Equipment Depot, for their selfless service and dedication to the Nation. The Nation is indeed proud of you. I wish you and your families all the very best for a glorious future.

JAI HIND.I am indeed happy to be amongst you today on the occasion of the 40th Anniversary of the Indian Civil Accounts Service. The service owes its origin to a major institutional reform in public financial management undertaken in 1976, that of separation of audit from accounts. There was a felt need at that time to make the accounting system at the Union Government level more reflective of ground level realities and geared towards providing effective financial management.

2. Forty years later, I am pleased at the significant reforms and initiatives that have been ushered in since the departmentalization of accounts and creation of the Indian Civil Accounts Service. I extend my felicitations to the Controller General of Accounts and the officers and staff of the Indian Civil Accounts Service for effectively and efficiently discharging their responsibilities in the service of the nation.

3. The founding fathers of our Constitution placed significant importance on accounts and audit of the Union Government and States. Several Constitutional provisions prescribe for the financial accountability of the Executive to Parliament, and the financial management of the affairs of the Union and the States. India’s tryst with accounting, in fact, dates back to the ancient past. Kautilya’s Arthashastra discusses accounting, budgeting and general principles of financial management that the State must endeavor to achieve in order to promote good governance. Indian history records the importance given by kingdoms and enlightened rulers towards the better management, custody and control of public finances, and reporting of expenditures and revenues.

4. During colonial rule, a payment and accounting system was established in the country based on the principles of control and compliance. The colonial administration designed complex rules and procedures of payment and accounting. Efficiency and effectiveness of public expenditures did not matter. That was because most of the funds mobilized were spent on meeting the costs of wages for the army or public servants. Expenditure on infrastructure within the country, like expanding the railways and road networks was geared to serve the interests of the colonial administration and exploitation of local resources. The focus of public finance in other words was not development but perpetuating control for keeping the fabric of the Raj together. Post-independence, the foci of governance changed and it was but natural that our accounting and financial systems would also undergo changes to reflect the new priorities that independent India had charted for itself.

5. I am happy to note that during the last forty years the office of the Controller General of Accounts has made substantive investments in automation and training of human resource in Information Technology. Consequently, there have been overall improvements in both the payment and accounting functions of the Union Government, in addition to providing decision makers with high quality, timely reports and analysis of the monthly and annual status of expenditures and revenues. I recall the launch of the Government e-payment Gateway called GePG in 2011 when I was the Finance Minister that has enabled direct electronic payments to beneficiary accounts in a seamless IT environment. The system has brought in greater transparency and efficiency in e-payment transactions. In recent times, the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) portal has further facilitated release of funds by line Ministries through the banking channels to beneficiaries, both within and external to Government with real time MIS inputs.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

6. Government places the highest importance towards the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode of payments as the preferred mode for reaching out to financially disadvantaged and excluded segments of our population. This mode of direct transfer of funds to beneficiary bank accounts ensures transparency, eliminates delays and brings about a perceptible drop in corruption levels. I am confident Government will on- board more welfare schemes on the PFMS portal in future. We must continue to harness and leverage our e-governance capabilities for improving the lives of the poor and needy, and to transform India into a more equitable and financially inclusive society.

7. India is today the third largest economy in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP). The size, scale and complexity of the economy is increasing with every passing day, as is its integration with the world economy. These fast paced developments pose policy and administrative challenges on many fronts, including on the capability and the capacity of our financial management and accounting systems to respond to the myriad needs of various stakeholders in the economy. In that context, the foremost challenge for your organization is timely and credible financial reporting of public finances, which is the backbone of an efficient and sound financial management system.

8. I congratulate both the C&AG and the Controller General of Accounts for ensuring faster submission of the Annual Financial Statements, alongwith the Audit Report of the Union Government for 2014-15, to Parliament within the same calendar year. I understand that this is only the second time since Independence that both organizations, working in tandem, have been able to achieve this. This now has to be the norm rather than the exception. At the same time, fiscal data needs to be presented in a simple and user friendly manner to enable easy comprehension both by parliamentarians and the general public. I am confident you will work towards this.

9. The other pressing need is to strengthen oversight mechanisms in the implementation of projects and schemes by line Ministries. The internal audit function today remains largely confined to compliance audit. This needs to change- internal audit has to aid management in the effective implementation of programs and help reduce cost and time overruns. Moreover, the focus has to change from compliance to risk management, mitigation and control. I understand that the Controller General of Accounts has taken several steps towards this end. This process needs to continue.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

10. An efficient payment system also entails new challenges and opportunities for the Government accounting fraternity. Government and its agencies today are repositories of large volumes of financial and statistical data. Such databases may be used to analyze and evaluate welfare programs, and to obtain new insights about long term outcomes of social sector spending. Data analytics may help to design, target and restructure welfare programs so as to improve the quality and efficiency of public expenditure.

11. I am happy to note that the Indian Civil Accounts Service has run up several achievements to its credit, in a relatively short time span of forty years. I am confident that all of you shall continue to build on these successes and provide India with robust and state-of-the-art public financial management systems. I wish the Service and all officers and staff a bright future.

Jai Hind!!